Cover Reveal: Doll Parts!!
It's all about the pink
Hello, hello, hello. I’m cutting through the small talk today to share the cover for my debut novel, Doll Parts, forthcoming from Sourcebooks Landmark on August 26, 2025.
Here she is…
I am in love with this book cover. The font, the colors, the little Sylvia Plath Easter egg (shout it out if you see it). Sourcebooks really nailed it. Love, love, love.
Mostly, and this is the part I am still grappling with as a debut author, I think being able to share the cover and seeing my book online makes it feel real. Like really real.
I can’t wait to share this story with the world.
I’m including more information about Doll Parts, including pre-order links, below, as well as some other writing news and a request to join the Doll Parts Street Team. Keep reading!
About Doll Parts by Penny Zang
Some stories refuse to stay buried.
For best friends Nikki and Sadie, college was supposed to be a fresh start, a way to blast Courtney Love from car speakers and leave their youth behind. But along with sadness-obsessed girls and intrusive professors, a dark story plagues their small all-women's school: the Sylvia Club, a campus legend surrounding the deaths of multiple Sylvia Plath-adoring students, all written off as suicides. Aspiring writer Nikki finds herself drawn to the tragic tales, so much so that dead girls begin to haunt her dark imagination. As she digs deeper, Nikki soon suspects there's much more to the story - a suspicion that will lead to a tragedy of its own, one that will tear her and Sadie apart.
It's been nearly twenty years since Sadie last saw her estranged friend. Now, Nikki is dead, and when Sadie ends up pregnant by Nikki's grieving husband not long after the funeral, she finds herself stepping into her ex-best friend's seemingly perfect life. But the longer Sadie lives in Nikki's eerily preserved home, the more she sees her appear and soon, she's convinced that Nikki is sending her clues from beyond the grave. Because it seems Nikki never stopped looking for answers about what happened to the girls of the Sylvia Club, and she may have been its latest victim.
Told in a dual timeline, Doll Parts is a provocative and irresistible debut, at once an exploration of the dark chasms that break apart friendships, an ode to the aching beauty of girlhood, and a sharp portrayal of grief that can physically haunt you.
Though Doll Parts comes out in August, you can add it to Goodreads and pre-order at any of the following locations:
Writing news and one big request:
My most recent short story, “Woody Guthrie is My Grandfather,” is out in South 85’s Fall/Winter 2024 Metamorphosis Issue. And it was long-listed for the Editor’s Choice Award. So excited to share it finally!
I am putting together a “street team” to help build hype and share news about DOLL PARTS leading up to the publication date. You are invited to join the team in exchange for a few bookish perks and my unending gratitude. All you have to do is sign up if you’re interested!
Thank you to everyone who has already signed up or helped share and post about Doll Parts. My gratitude is bigger than you know.
There has been a lot of book promotion in this space lately and in the new year, there will likely be more. But I promise to also return to my irregularly scheduled posts about cats and other people’s books. Thank you for being here!
About me:
I am Penny Zang, an author, a mom, and an English professor. Start here to learn more about Mourning Pages. My debut novel, Doll Parts, will be published by Sourcebooks in August 2025.
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I’m already on the street team, and pre-bought the book, so you know my enthusiasm is in place.
What I loved about the Woody Guthrie story is I felt like I could hear each jukebox Artist in the narrator‘s voice as she was describing it. The music spilled outside when she grabbed the bat and kept the soundtrack going. Another great write, Penny.
I've somehow JUST seen this-- incredible! The Easter egg is EVERYTHING!! Can't wait to read, Penny, and huge congrats! xx